


Shot in the Dark

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Moving Targets [17]
Category: Smallville
Genre: 33.1, F/M, Friendship, Hurt Oliver, JLA - Freeform, Missions, anonymous tips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:34:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24238903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Another lead on Lex sends the team to Nevada, but the mission doesn't go as expected.
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen & Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Moving Targets [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748179
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**33.1 -- Black Rock Desert, Nevada -- April 21, 2011**

In the distance, he could hear the sirens wailing from above. Or possibly all around.

He wasn't entirely sure.

His entire body hurt.

It hurt to _breathe_.

He reached down to his stomach and winced as pain shot through him at the light pressure. When his hand came back covered in blood, he knew he was in trouble.

He could hear footsteps running down the corridor, toward him.

Guards, he thought, shutting his eyes.

He just hoped that the others would get out safely.

And that they would take care of each other.

His last thoughts were of Chloe and Mia.

And then the world went dark.

* * *

**Headquarters, Star City -- 36 Hours Before**

"See? You shouldn't challenge me to basketball, man. Now if you wanted to win, challenge me to a _swimming_ contest," Oliver ribbed AC, grinning at his friend smugly and tossing the ball through the hoop once more for good measure.

Chloe glanced at Dinah and rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little, "you realize you two already got the girls, right? You don't need to show off."

Oliver glanced back at her and arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, but now we have to work on _keeping_ the girls," he teased.

"There are much better ways to do that," Dinah said, raising a single brow.

He smirked at Dinah. "Over-sharing, Canary."

Chloe shrugged and lifted her sunglasses to look at Ollie, "I don't know, I kinda agree with her on this one, Arrow."

Oliver met her eyes. "I think you know all you have to do is say the word, Watchtower."

A.C. smirked at that. "Now who's over-sharing?"

Dinah rolled her eyes and shook her head, "if you two knew the kind of things we talk about..."

Chloe smirked and winked at Ollie before lowering her sunglasses again.

At that, both Oliver and AC stared at them, their expressions mirroring shock.

Dinah simply smirked at them and sipped on her drink, Chloe laughed, but paused when her phone beeped next to her on the chair, reaching for it a second later.

"I think this is a double standard," AC announced, grabbing the basketball from Oliver and shooting it through the hoop. "If we talked about them like that, we'd be dead men."

Oliver smirked. "Shh. We don't talk about that double standard in front of them."

"That's because your gender is known for objectifying us," Dinah pointed out.

"Hm, guys?" Chloe said after a moment, her expression turning serious, "it's the informant."

At that, Oliver paused and then turned to face Chloe, his expression grim. "What cryptic lead is he giving us this time?"

"33.1 is back. Nevada." Chloe told him letting out a breath.

"I'll let everyone know we're leaving," Dinah said immediately as she stood up and started inside the house.

AC followed her quickly after setting the ball down on the cement driveway.

Oliver closed his eyes, drawing in a breath and exhaling slowly.

Chloe stood up too and sighed stepping over to him, "maybe you should stay here with Mia," she knew he would never agree to it, but she had to at least try.

He immediately shook his head, opening his eyes to look at her. "No."

She pursed her lips together and nodded a little then sighed, "we will need to be careful, especially with you."

"We need to be careful with _all_ of us," he said quietly, gazing at her intently.

Pursing her lips together, she nodded slowly, "let’s go pack."

Oliver reached out and touched her face, leaning in and kissing her intently.

Chloe returned the kiss with the same intensity and grabbed his shirt on both sides as she pulled him closer to her.

"I love you," he murmured against her mouth, sliding his arm around her and pulling her against him, his other hand sliding up and into her hair.

"I love you too," she whispered to him, kissing him hard once more.

After a moment, he reluctantly let her go, both of them breathing heavier than usual. "Let's get ready."

She licked her lips and took a deep breath then nodded a little, reaching for his hand and starting toward the house.

* * *

Oliver set his duffel bag by the front door, waiting as the rest of the team got their gear packed and ready. Bart had run ahead, and knowing him, was fueling up on Mexican food for the flight. He glanced at the door as it opened and Mia stepped in, hefting her bookbag on one shoulder. "Hey."

"What's going on?" Mia asked, watching Oliver and watching as Chloe showed up, carrying a small suitcase and laptop bag.

He was silent for a moment and he glanced over at Chloe before looking back at his protege. "There's a mission in Nevada," he said with a soft sigh. "New information from our mysterious informant."

Chloe set her suitcase down, "Victor is staying." She told Mia and glanced at Ollie.

"I'm going." Mia announced.

"Oh, no. No, you're not," Oliver responded, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm part of the team!" Mia pointed out, frowning at him, "I get to go on missions."

"You're part of the team that has school to go to," he reminded her.

"I'm ahead on most of my classes," she pointed out and crossed her arms over her chest, "and tomorrow is Friday so I'll only be missing one day."

"It's dangerous, Mia. We're talking about Lex Luthor."

"I _know_ ," she told him, "which is why I wanna help."

He stared at her for a moment, then looked over at Chloe.

Chloe looked at Oliver, raising her eyebrows a little, not sure what he expected her to say then looked over at Mia, "maybe you can help me."

Oliver sighed softly and glanced back at Mia once more. "You're staying with Chloe, completely behind the scenes, nowhere near the facility."

Mia's eyes widened and she shook her head, "no, I want to _really_ help."

He raised his eyebrows. "You can either stay here and go to school, or you can hang back with Chloe. Those are your options."

"Fine," she said, glaring at him then running upstairs, "don't leave without me," she called without looking back.

He sighed softly, watching her go. "Think she'd forgive me if I ignored that last part?"

"We'll find her something to do," Chloe said, sighing a little, "at least this way, Victor can go in with the rest of you."

He looked over at her, a small smile on his face. "Patrolling is one thing. But I don't want her on Lex's radar if she's not already," he murmured.

"I doubt she isn't already, not with the way he was watching us, but we will keep her safe," she assured him, at least, as safe as they could.

"I know." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

Chloe rubbed his arm a little and pursed her lips, "we should start getting things in the car."

Oliver pressed a kiss to her forehead and moved to get their things. "Good idea." He headed for the door.

* * *

**Abandoned Warehouse, Black Rock Desert -- 5 hours earlier.**

On the way to Nevada, Chloe and Victor had managed to track down activity on what looked like an underground facility in the middle of the desert. The only way they managed to find it was thanks to the Satellite's capability of picking up heat waves. They also managed to find an abandoned warehouse that was located on the edge of the desert, where they were now setting up their temporary headquarters for this mission.

The location was still a forty-five minute drive away from their improvised base, so Bart would be running everyone there.

"Okay," Chloe said with a breath as she moved her eyes from the screen as everyone adjusted their uniforms and weapons, "I think I see the way in, it looks like a tunnel on the west side of the facility, but it seems to be the only way in, which means, it will be the only way out." She said worriedly.

"Don't worry," Oliver murmured, resting a hand against the small of her back. "We'll be fine."

She glanced at him and nodded a little then frowned, "maybe try to stay around the entrance, we don't know if this is some kind of trap," she turned back to the screen and typed, "although it looks like it has at least... I'd say twenty to thirty people in there."

"We have a lot of people to get out then," AC said grimly.

"Assuming they're not all guards and this isn't a trap like Chloe said." Victor looked over at him, folding his arms across his chest.

Chloe frowned a little and considered for a moment, "it looks like they are mostly concentrated on the Northeast section of the facility," she turned to Victor, "might not be a bad idea to put those arms of yours to work and _make_ an alternative exit."

He smirked a little at that. "Can do," he said with a nod.

Mia was just watching the back and forth of the team and unlike her assumptions it did look like Chloe actually _did_ something on bigger missions like this, even if she didn't do much when they went on patrol. But it still wasn't anything _she_ knew how to do.

Oliver glanced over to where she stood, leaning against the wall, then moved over to stand beside her. "Not exactly how you imagined things?" he asked softly so only she could hear him.

She glared at him and shrugged, "this isn't what I've been training for."

His jaw tightened a little. "I don't want you on Lex's radar, Mia."

"That's what the costume is for," she told him with a frown.

"He knows who _all_ of us are and we all wear costumes," he pointed out.

"Because he met _all_ of you before, but he never met me." She told him, "I'll be useless here."

"No. You're _safe_ here," he corrected her.

"You're the one he wants!" She told him, forgetting about the whispering.

"And he would use you to get to me in a heartbeat because he's a scumbag, Mia!" Oliver's voice rose, as well.

The rest of the room fell silent and turned to look at the two of them, Mia stopped and frowned, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the wall again.

Chloe hesitated then took a step toward the two of them, "are you ready?" She asked Oliver.

He sighed softly, rubbing a hand over his face and pushing away from the wall. "Yeah."

"Relax and focus," Chloe told him, glancing at Mia then stepping closer to him and lowering her voice, "she'll be safe, she's not going anywhere."

"I know," he said quietly, nodding a little and looking over at Mia, as well.

Mia looked over at them, she had heard Chloe, which just annoyed her more, so she glared then looked away.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair. "All right. Let's get this show on the road." He gazed at Mia a moment longer, then looked at Chloe, dipping his head and kissing her softly on the mouth.

Chloe returned the kiss and took his hand in hers, giving it a soft squeeze, "good luck." She told him quietly then looked at the others, "communicators," she told them, walking over to her desk and picking up her own then sliding it into her ear.

Oliver slid the communicator into his ear and pulled his hood up. "See you soon."

"Bart?" Chloe called, "take Vic first so he can start working on that exit," she turned to the screen and started to type, "should be about 2.4 miles from the road."

A second later Victor vanished along with Bart.

AC raised his eyebrows and glanced at Dinah, then Chloe. "We'll be fine."

Chloe glanced at AC and nodded, trying for a smile, "let’s get this over with."

A moment later, AC and Dinah were gone, as well, leaving just Oliver with Chloe and Mia, looking between them.

"Here we go." Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "First sign of trouble, you get yourselves in that van outside," he said softly.

"We'll be okay," Chloe told him, turning to face him again, "stay safe."

Mia sighed and reluctantly pushed herself from the wall, "good luck," she mumbled, picking up her ear piece, the only one left on the desk, and sliding it on too.

"Thank you," he said quietly, nodding at them and drawing in a breath as he felt the earth rush by him a moment later as Bart carried him to the site.

Chloe blinked and took a deep breath, turning to the screen again and glancing at Mia, "do you wanna help?"

"What exactly will I do?" she asked uncertainly, frowning.

She turned the second laptop toward Mia and pointed at the screen, "each one of those dots represents one of them, green one is Ollie, black one is Dinah, red one is Bart, silver on is Vic, aqua one is AC. And then there is the yellow one, which is yours and orange one is mine, so you don't have to worry about those two. I will be monitoring their activity, but I need you to keep an eye on the heat levels around each of them," she switched to the heat index view, and pointed to the area that had a large blob of reds and oranges, "these are the people who are in there, the more people, the bigger the body heat and the bigger the red blobs will be. If you see anything like this around one of our dots, we need to send them back up or at least warn them that they could be in danger, depending how big it is."

Mia watched the screen for a moment, then looked at Chloe. "Okay," she said uncertainly.

"Just let me know if anything changes and I will let you know where to go from there." She told Mia, looking at her for a moment then turning back to her own screen.

Mia drew in a breath and let it out slowly. She could do this. It wasn't what she wanted to be doing, but at least they'd let her come with them.


	2. Chapter 2

**33.1, Black Rock Desert -- 2 hours earlier.**

“Watchtower?”

“Cyborg.” Chloe answered, her eyes going to the corner of the screen his dot was on.

“Exit has been created, area is clean, all I see is lab equipment, no doubt used to experiment on the prisoners.” Victor told her, looking around the darkened lab he entered through.

“Copy that,” she glanced at Mia, then back at the screen, “Dinah and AC are the closest to you, about 45 feet to the West, join them and proceed from there, no hostages have been found.”

Mia kept her eyes on Oliver’s green dot, feeling more tense than she thought she would considering how little _she_ was actually doing. Of course that was probably _why_ she was tense. Because instead of being in there helping Ollie and the others, she was miles away watching dots on a screen.

Chloe paused as she looked between her screen and Mia's and frowned, "Aquaman, do you see any kind of door to your right?"

"I see one," AC responded almost instantly.

With a deep breath, she nodded a little, it was harder for her to navigate them when she didn't have any kind of blueprint of the place they were inside, "okay, you're pretty close to the more populated area, about fifteen feet, wait for Cyborg before going any further."

"Waiting," he answered, crouching down around the corner as he heard footsteps approaching the door.

"Arrow, Impulse, check in," Chloe told them, watching the screen and seeing as they stood on the opposite side of the facility.

"All's clear as far as I can see," Oliver reported, glancing around the empty corridor.

"Clear and free here too, Mamacita," Bart answered.

"I don't see anyone around you two," she told them, taking a deep breath and watching as the silver dot approached the aqua and black ones.

"We're ready to go in," Dinah spoke.

"Impulse, be ready to back up Aquaman, Cyborg and Canary, they're going in." Chloe told them, holding her breath.

Mia glanced sideways at Chloe, raising an eyebrow and wondering if she was intentionally side-lining Ollie.

"On my way," Bart reported, heading across the building.

Chloe looked over at Mia and pursed her lips together for a second then turned back to the screen in front of her, "let us know how it looks," she told them.

"Looks like all prisoners," Victor checked in a moment later. "Going to work on rounding them up now and getting them free."

At that, Chloe frowned, "all prisoners? No guards?" Something wasn't right...

"That doesn't make any sense," Mia said almost immediately, frowning, too. "There should be guards all over that place, right?" She looked at Chloe uneasily.

"Should be," Oliver agreed over the communicator.

"Get them out and _get out_ ," Chloe said quickly, her eyes a little wide. She wanted to tell Oliver to get out, but she couldn't, "Arrow, join them, take the exit Cyborg created."

"Deep breaths, Chloe," Oliver said, even as he headed down the corridor toward where the others were. "What's _your_ status?"

Mia blinked at the question, her eyebrows furrowing. "We're in the same place we were when you left us here."

"We're secure," Chloe told them, "just get out of there."

"Working on it, Watchtower." Oliver sighed softly and glanced around, seeing no one near and making the turn down the hallway.

"Getting the targets out now," Bart reported, carrying a young girl out of the building.

Chloe let out a breath rubbing her hands over her face then looking back at the screen and stilling completely. "Mia." She said quietly and glancing at the heat index screen that was still up on the laptop the girl was using, "we're moving."

"What? Why?" She frowned and looked over at Chloe.

She swallowed and pointed at the red blob moving toward the warehouse they were in, "we found the guards." She didn't even blink before grabbing the keys to the rental van and one of the laptops, "hurry."

"Oh _shit_." Mia quickly got to her feet and followed her toward the exit. "What about the rest of the stuff?"

"Grab what you can, take the laptop," Chloe told her, hurrying around and grabbing the bags the team had brought, mostly just clothes, luckily important things like wallets or phones that could actually help someone track them down had been left at the hotel.

She grabbed the laptop, as well as her own uniform, and then an extra bag Ollie had brought along for whatever reason. Then she quickly made her way to the door. "Give me the keys. I drive faster than you," she said, holding her hand out.

"What's going on, Watchtower?" Oliver demanded, pausing in the corridor.

Chloe handed her the keys without hesitation and threw everything she had in her arms in the back of the van, with the exception of the laptop, which she held on to, then closed the doors and moved to the passenger's seat, "get out of there, Arrow, we're driving up."

"They're heading toward you?" That explained the lack of guards around the facility. He gritted his teeth together.

Mia slid into the driver's seat, jammed the keys into the ignition and as soon as Chloe was inside the van, she stomped on the gas pedal. "We're out of there, just be ready!"

"We have enough time to move out, we're safe," Chloe assured him, immediately opening the laptop and looking, " _move_ , Arrow," she could see his dot was still in the same place.

"Where is he?" Mia asked, gripping the steering wheel tightly and speeding up even more.

"Halfway there," Chloe told Mia, "how many do you have, Aquaman, Canary?"

"Eight left," Dinah answered, freeing another prisoner from his cell even as she spoke. She motioned for him to get out of the previously locked room.

A few more minutes went by and Dinah, AC, Bart and Victor kept informing them on the situation with the hostages while Mia sped toward the facility as fast as she could, they were probably about ten minutes out of it when Chloe realized Oliver had been quiet. Too quiet. "Arrow, check in."

When there was no response, Mia looked over at her. "Where's his dot?" Her grip on the steering wheel tightened a little more.

Chloe's jaw tightened, she couldn't see the green dot anywhere on the screen, "Impulse," she said, her voice tight, "find Arrow."

"He's offline?" Bart paused, pressing the communicator button in his ear and frowning deeply.

"Yes," Chloe said, holding her breath, her jaw tightening.

Mia swallowed hard, pressing her foot against the gas pedal a little more.

"On it, Watchtower," Bart told her, speeding back into the facility and racing through all of the hallways and rooms. "Bad news. Arrow's not here."

Chloe's stomach dropped, her jaw tightened even more, but she focused, "we're five minutes out," she told them, "Aquaman, Cyborg, help the hostages. Canary, Impulse, get out, search the area, Speedy and I will join you when we get there."

And then she paused and put the laptop down, shifting closer to Mia and grabbing the wheel, "switch with me, you need to suit up." 

Mia bit her lip, reluctantly shifting out of her seat and crawling into the back of the van, changing quickly into her uniform. "He's gonna be all right, isn't he?"

"He has to be." Chloe told her, stepping on the gas as hard as she could, keeping her eyes out for any sign of Oliver.

* * *

One minute he'd been standing in the middle of the corridor, and the next he found himself on the ground in the middle of a room with no windows or doors. He could still hear the alarms from their breaking and entering the facility, but they were distant. "What the--"

* * *

"There is no sign of him anywhere." Bart said after running the facility and surrounding areas a handful of times, over and and over again.

Chloe frowned harder and shook her head, looking around, gun in hand as she ran the grounds with the rest of them, "he can't have just disappeared." She said, "keep looking."

* * *

A younger boy walked out of the shadows, his hands shaking and he was blue, cold, a gun in his hands, "he told me you would come for me, but he taught me how to protect myself," he told the Green Arrow.

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed. "Come for you?" He shook his head. "Kid, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me!" He yelled, hands shaking harder, "he said he would fix me, as long as I managed to take care of you."

He paused, slowly putting his hands in the air. "All right, listen. If you're talking about Lex Luthor, I can promise you he's not out to help you. He's only out to help himself. I'm here to help the people he's been experimenting on to escape."

"You're lying!" He pulled the trigger but missed, his jaw clenching.

Oliver flinched as the bullet whizzed right by his head and he quickly took a step back. "I can prove it. Leave me here. Lock me up if you have to. Go check the facility we were just in."

"Shut up!" He ordered hitting the back of the gun hard against Oliver's temple.

Pain exploded in his head and he crumpled to the floor, the room spinning around him. He groaned, lifting a hand to his face, not surprised when his fingers came away covered in blood.

With a shaky hand and a deep breath, the boy pointed the gun at him again and pulled the trigger one more time, his eyes widening when this time, he didn't miss it. He stared for a moment, then ran.

* * *

"People do _not_ just vanish into thin air!" Mia said heatedly.

Chloe was pacing the ground near the exit that Victor had opened and all of the sudden, she stopped, "we looked all over the facility and all around the area," her jaw tightened, "but we never looked under it."

AC paused, turning to look at her. "You're thinking there's some kind of underground passage."

"I'm on it," Bart said before vanishing again.

Chloe took a deep breath, "I'm going in too," she said, glancing at Victor.

He nodded, picking up the laptop and looking at it, "I'll make sure we're clear."

"I'm coming with," Mia informed her, following in the direction Bart had gone before anyone could argue.

Dinah followed and nodded, she knew there was no point trying to stop either one of them, so she might as well keep an eye on them, "if they are underground, it could explain Arrow being offline, communication might be cut off, so we need to stick together."

As much as he didn't want to, AC hung back. "We'll keep an eye out for guards," he said warily.

Mia, Chloe and Dinah made their way back inside through the tunnel Vic had opened and walked in silence, checking every door, and every opening but for what felt like hours, they found nothing.

And then Bart's voice came in through their ear piece, "I think I found something."

Mia ran ahead. "Where are you?"

"Mia, stick together!" Dinah called after her, even though she and Chloe picked up the pace too.

"He's not much further ahead, keep going in that direction," Victor informed them.

"What did you find?" Mia demanded as she approached Bart, catching up to him quickly.

Bart was standing inside what seemed to be a closet and holding a trapdoor up, he looked up as the three women walked into the room, "I'm guessing we won't hear the others by the time we get down there."

"We're going in," Chloe told AC and Vic over the communicator, "if we don't come back in half an hour, take the hostages and go."

"Be careful," AC said, still coming in loud and clear at the moment.

"Let's go." Mia climbed down the ladder under the trap door first, her heart beating quickly in her chest.

"Don't let her out of your sight," Chloe told Bart in a whisper and motioned for him to go in after Mia. She knew she could never keep up with Mia if the teenager decided to really run for it.

Bart nodded and didn't hesitate before following Mia in.

Dinah looked at Chloe with worried eyes, following her down the ladder and into the dark, damp corridor. It reminded her way too much of a sewer. Thankfully it didn't smell like one, too.

"Ollie!" Mia called, plunging forward into the darkness.

"Mia, quiet!" Chloe said in a rushed whisper even if she knew it was useless, their communicators were already dead.

Mia didn't even hear her, thankful when she came across a door at the end of the corridor. "There's a room!" 

Bart tried the door as soon as Mia announced the room, when it didn't work, he pulled Mia back, "stay out of the way," he warned her before running away and running back toward the door, full speed, and pushed the door out of the way.

She didn't flinch as the door literally flew off the hinges from the force of his speed. She just hoped Ollie hadn't been standing behind it or he'd probably be squished. 

Chloe and Dinah caught up with them moments later, Chloe's eyes widening when she looked inside the room and saw Bart holding the door he'd just pulled out of the way, "is he there?" She called, still rushing toward the room.

Mia stood just inside the doorway, frozen in place at the sight of Oliver's motionless body lying on the floor, blood pooled around him.

Bart placed the door against one of the walls, glanced at Mia and followed her gaze down to the floor, his own eyes widening and he stilled, too.

Chloe glanced at Dinah and rushed through the door, her stomach turning at the expression on what she could see of their faces, and when she looked at the floor, even though she was telling herself she should expect it, she could not have prepared herself for what she saw.

"Ollie," she cried, moving over to his side, slipping on the blood and getting down to her knees before she meant to, "Ollie, can you hear me?" Her heart was beating so fast that even as she pressed her fingers to his throat, she wasn't sure if the heartbeat she felt was his or her own.

When he didn't move, a strangled noise escaped Mia, and she quickly moved over beside Chloe.

Dinah looked at Bart. "You need to get him to the first hospital you can find. Go. Now!"

Before Chloe was fully aware of what was happening, both Bart and Oliver had disappeared, she swallowed hard and looked down at her hands, the one that had been on floor for support was covered in blood and the other was shaking, "was he breathing?" She asked finally.

No one answered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Star City Labs -- April 21, 2011**

Mia sat still and silent outside the room where Dr. Hamilton was working on Oliver. The knees of her uniform were stained with blood-- _Ollie's_ blood. She swallowed hard, feeling both dazed and nauseous at the same time.

Chloe's jeans were also covered in blood and she had been standing by the window, staring outside with her arms wrapped around herself since Bart had brought her over. Dr. Hamilton still hadn't come to talk to them but she didn't need a doctor to tell her it wasn't good. The amount of blood that was all over her, Mia and all over the floor of the room where they'd find her was enough.

Mia looked up to where Chloe was standing, faced away from her. "It's bad, isn't it?"

She didn't move when Mia spoke with the exception of her jaw tensing, but she was glad she wasn't facing the girl, "I don't know," Chloe said quietly, "we have to wait for Emil."

"I should have been there with him." Her voice was almost inaudible.

With a deep sigh, Chloe shook her head and glanced at Mia over her shoulder, but didn't turn full on, she didn't want Mia to see all the blood, "that's not what he wanted, he wanted you to be safe, and you are."

"And if he'd just been less stubborn, maybe I could have helped and this wouldn't have happened."

Chloe rubbed a hand over her face and took a deep breath, "this isn't about you, Mia." She said quietly, finally turning around, "this isn't about me, or Ollie or any of us, it's much bigger than the team and we all need to do what we think is the best choice in the situation. Oliver didn't want to come out of the mission with you with a bullseye on your forehead, because he can't be worried about Lex going after _you_ on top of everything else."

At that, Mia fell silent, leaning back in the chair, closing her eyes tightly.

Sighing deeply, Chloe shook her head and walked over to sit down next to Mia, "I'm sorry," she said quietly, taking a deep breath, "but I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened, you were exactly where Ollie wanted you to be and I have no doubt that when he wakes up," because she refused to think about _if_ he woke up, "he will be grateful that you listened to him."

"You should go clean up, Chloe. You're covered in blood," Mia said quietly.

Pursing her lips together, she shook her head a little, "I'm not leaving here until we hear something, I'm sure Bart will bring us clothes once he has time." She said quietly.

"How long is it going to take? It's been hours." Mia rose to her feet and began to pace the room.

"I don't know," Chloe glanced at Mia then sighed, rubbing her face again.

As if answering their question, Emil walked out of the room and looked over at them. "Ladies?"

Chloe looked up and stood up instantly, her eyes widening as she looked over at the doctor, "how is he?"

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "He's lost a lot of blood," he said quietly. "Fortunately there was no damage to any of his internal organs. He has a pretty serious concussion and some swelling in the brain, which should go down on its own." He paused. "All in all, he was pretty lucky."

"So he'll be okay?" Chloe asked, her heart beating fast against her chest.

"As long as there are no complications," he said with a slight nod. "He should make a full recovery." Emil paused. "It just might take awhile."

Mia closed her eyes, exhaling slowly.

Chloe reached over and placed her hand on Mia's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "any chances he will wake up anytime soon?"

"He's pretty heavily sedated right now," Emil told her, offering her a small, tired smile. "But you can see him if you'd like."

"Thank you," Chloe said quietly, glancing at Mia then taking a deep breath and starting toward the room, her chest tightening as soon as she opened the door and saw him.

Mia drew in a breath, too, following her silently, and taking her hand without thinking about it, holding onto it tightly.

She paused when she felt Mia taking her hand, her eyebrows raising in surprise but she didn't want to scare Mia away, so she held on to her hand just as tightly, "he'll be okay." Chloe told Mia quietly as they walked up to the bed and she lifted her free hand to Ollie's.

"He better be." Her voice was thick, her grip tightening just a little on Chloe's hand.

Chloe was quiet for a long time, just watching him, watching him breathing slowly. She lifted her hand up to his face, brushing her fingers gently against his cheek. He was so pale, so much paler than usual because of all the blood he lost. She brushed her thumb against the dark rings under his eyes.

Mia was silent, as well, watching for any flicker of reaction or signs of alertness on Ollie's part. But there were none. Other than his breathing, he was just still.

They were both silent for a long time and finally, Chloe took a deep breath, "why don't we drive over to the house, take a shower, get something to eat and come back?" Chloe suggested reluctantly. The last thing she wanted was to leave Ollie, but they were both covered in blood, not to mention dirty from walking around in the desert and she knew Mia wouldn't leave on her own.

"We shouldn't both leave at the same time," she murmured, worried. "What if he wakes up?"

"You heard what Dr. Hamilton said, he's heavily sedated and we won't be longer than an hour," Chloe assured her, "I don't want to leave him either, but I don't want him to see either one of us like this."

Mia didn't look convinced. "No longer than an hour?"

"We'll shower, change, pick up some fast food on our way back." Chloe promised, nodding at her.

She bit her lip, looking at Oliver once more in indecision. "All right," she whispered.

Chloe looked down at Ollie then leaned in, pressing a kiss to his forehead, "we won't be long." She whispered to him before pulling back and nodding at Mia, "lets go."

Mia swallowed hard, looking at Oliver once more, and then quickly following her out the door.

* * *

**Star City Labs -- April 23, 2011**

Chloe walked back in the room sipping on the coffee she had just gotten from a vending machine on the bottom floor and making a face. It wasn't good, at all. But she wanted to make sure she stayed alert. Ollie was still sleeping and although Emil said his vitals were good and he was recovering well all things considered, she was getting restless. She just wanted him to wake up, to look at her, to talk to her.

She glanced over at Mia, who had fallen asleep on the vacant bed in the adjoined room and sighed softly, sitting back down on her chair next to Ollie's bed and taking his hand in hers like she had been doing over and over again in the past forty-eight hours.

But this time when she took his hand, his fingers twitched a little and flexed lightly around hers, a soft sigh escaping him.

Sitting up straight, she placed the coffee over the bedside table and stood up after a moment, "Ollie?" She whispered, tightening her grip on his hand.

After a moment, his eyes opened slowly and he looked at her with a dazed expression. "Chloe?"

Her eyes widened when she saw him looking at her, "it's me," she said with a nod, reaching and cupping his cheek, "I'm here."

He blinked a couple of times, feeling like his head was full of cotton. "What happened?" he murmured.

Chloe brushed her thumb over his cheek, "don't try to move," she told him quietly, "you were shot, you'll be okay, but you lost a lot of blood."

His eyebrows furrowed a little at that. "Shot?" he echoed.

"Yes," she paused a little and swallowed, "do you remember the mission? The 33.1?"

He was silent for a moment, trying to remember. "Vaguely?"

She shook her head a little, "don't worry about it right now, okay?" Chloe swallowed and watched him closely, "do you need anything? I should let Emil know you're awake."

His fingers tightened around hers a little. "The others?"

"Everyone is okay," she shifted closer to the bed, "Mia is sleeping over there," she nodded in the direction of the other room, "you've been out for a while, but she didn't want to leave you."

Oliver looked toward the open door, then back at Chloe, relaxing a little at the news that the others were all right. "Sorry I scared you," he whispered, his voice raspy.

Chloe looked at him then reluctantly let go of his hand and opened the mini fridge, picking up a bottle of water and holding it out to him, "don't be sorry," she told him quietly, holding back from apologizing to him, he needed to rest for now, she would tell him why things went the way they did once she felt he was ready for that conversation, "I'm just glad you're gonna be okay. How are you feeling?"

"Mostly numb," he admitted, trying to shift positions a little, and wincing. "At least somewhat."

"Ollie, don't move," she hold him again, holding his hand, "I'll text Emil and let him know you're awake."

"All right." He exhaled slowly, resting his head back against the pillow and closing his eyes.

She sighed softly and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek then picking her phone from her pocket and texting Emil quickly.

"Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She answered, quickly sliding her phone back in her pocket and taking his hand again.

He opened his eyes once more. "Love you," he whispered.

Her chest tightened painfully and she let out a deep breath, leaning close and pressing her lips to his cheek as she cupped his cheek, "I love you too," she whispered, closing her eyes, "thank you for getting out of this."

"Not sure how much credit I should get for that one," he murmured, turning his head slightly and kissing her.

Chloe returned the kiss, careful not to lean into him and hurt him as she did, she wanted to be closer to him, but she knew she would hurt him if she even tried to sit on the bed.

"And you're okay?" he whispered.

She blinked and looked up at him, her eyes tearing up slightly and she couldn't help but smiled a little at him, "you're the one who got shot and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

Oliver paused at that, a small smile tugging at his mouth. "Yep."

"I'm okay," she assured him, brushing her nose against his, "just can't wait to get you out of here."

"Me too. When can we work on that?" he asked without hesitation.

"Emil will probably want to keep you here a while longer," she told him quietly, brushing his fingers through his hair, "but we'll talk to him, if you promise him you will listen to me and stay in bed when you have to, he might let us do it soon."

"I always listen to you." He paused. "Well. Most of the time."

Chloe swallowed a little and pursed her lips together, "even when you shouldn't."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed a little and he looked up at her uncertainly.

She sighed softly and shook her head, kissing the corner of his mouth, "we'll talk about it later."

He frowned, watching her. "All right..."

"Everything is okay," she assured him, running her fingers through his hair.

Oliver relaxed beneath her touch, closing his eyes once more. He wasn't sure he believed her about that, but for now, he accepted it. There wasn't much else he could do anyway.

* * *

**Headquarters, Star City -- April 30, 2011**

"Okay," Chloe placed his water and painkillers on the bedside table and looked down at him, taking a deep breath, "are you comfortable? Do you need more pillows?"

"I'm okay," Oliver assured her with a small, tired smile. After spending a little over a week in a hospital, being home in his own bed was like heaven. "But you could always lay down with me."

"I plan on it." She was just as happy as he was since she had been napping on the vacant lab bed and spending most of the day on the chair by his bed, she was glad to have a real bed to lay on too.

"Good. I've missed that," he admitted quietly, gazing at her.

"I did too," she told him quietly, leaning down and kissing him softly then pulling back, "are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I'm sure. Now get in bed," he ordered playfully, patting the mattress beside him.

Chloe smiled a little at him then walked over to the door and closed it before taking off her shoes and moving to the far side of the bed, getting in carefully not to hurt him.

He watched her and pulled the covers back on her side so she could slide under them.

She got in and laid down then sighed deeply, closing her eyes, "okay, I might not move from here until you're allowed to too."

Oliver reached over and rested a hand on her arm. "Won't hear any complaints from me."

"I'm glad to hear that," she told him, turning on her side to face him and wrapping her arm around his chest.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then closed his eyes. "God, it's good to be home," he murmured.

Chloe nodded a little and smiled softly at him, "I agree... those were very long ten days."

"Longer for you," he murmured.

She shook her head a little,"seven days since you woke up, ten days total," she told him quietly, smiling a little.

"Yeah, but...I was unconscious for a couple of those days."

"You were," she lifted her head and brushed her hand through his hair, pursing her lips together.

"So it felt longer for you."

"It doesn't matter," Chloe said quietly, "you're home now."

"We both are." He opened his eyes to look at her again.

She held his gaze for a moment and took a deep breath, "I guess... I can tell you what really happened now."

Oliver paused. "What do you mean?"

Chloe looked down blankly at his shoulder and pursed her lips together nervously, trying to think of the best to word it, "it was my fault you were alone when that boy found you," she told him quietly, glancing up at him guiltily.

He raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"

"It wasn't accidental that Dinah, AC and Vic were the ones to run into the hostages and you and Bart were left on the opposite side of the action." She admitted quietly, not sure how he was going to react to this, but she didn't want to lie to him.

"Oh. _That_." He gave her a look. "Chloe, did you really think I didn't figure that out?"

She blinked and raised her eyebrows a little in surprise, "well... you didn't say anything."

"You expected me to in front of the rest of the team?" He frowned a little.

"Well, no," she sighed a little and shook her head, sitting up a little, "anyway, that's not the point. I'm sorry things happened the way they did... if you had stayed with the others, things would have gone differently."

"Or possibly he would have shot more of us than just me," he pointed out.

"You said he was just a kid," Chloe pointed out back at him, frowning, "Bart could probably have secured him before he had the chance to hurt anyone."

" _Probably._ Or Bart may not have seen him until he'd already shot me and Dinah or AC or Vic." He gazed at her intently.

She sighed deeply and shook her head a little, "it could have gone differently, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be apologizing for what happened to you."

"Or maybe you should start realizing that you can't control everything," he said gently, his fingers curling around hers.

Her stomach turned a little at that and she looked at him for a moment, "I know I can't... and I'm also sorry I tried to keep you away from everything, it wasn't fair to you."

"That's...not what I meant," he said wryly. "I meant that...no matter what we do, what choices we make, bad things are going to happen that we can't control. This was just one of them."

Chloe looked at him for a moment and took a deep breath, "I had to try." She told him quietly, "and I understand what you're saying, but I feel guilty, Ollie, and it will go away, right now I just need you to listen to my apology."

He gazed at her for a moment, then nodded. "All right," he said softly.

Chloe sighed softly and swallowed then nodded a little and wrapped her arm around him again, "I'm really sorry I tried to force you to stay out of the way."

Oliver lifted a hand to her cheek, searching her eyes. He nodded slightly.

She held his gaze and pursed her lips together, "were you even going to say anything?"

"After," he said softly, nodding a little. "When we were alone."

"What were you planning on saying?" She asked him softly, shifting on the bed so she was closer to him.

He studied her a moment. "That I understood why you were doing it, but you have to stop."

Letting out a breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding, she nodded a little, "but you know this isn't about us, right?" She asked him quietly after a moment, "it's not me trying to protect you because I'm in love with you. I trust your abilities and I know what you're capable of doing... it's just because, we all know you're his main target."

"I know, Chloe. And if the situation was reversed, I'd be trying to do the exact same thing," he admitted.

"I know," she told him, wrapping her arm tighter around him, "I don't think there is a way around this."

Oliver kissed her forehead, closing his eyes. "No, probably not."

"Maybe it will be better if we all just accept the fact that in some cases, one of us may be a bigger target and when that happens, we can have a team effort to watch that one person's back a little better," she suggested quietly, leaning her head into him.

"We'll figure something out," he murmured, shifting a little and gritting his teeth hard to keep from wincing.

"Don't move," she said reflexively, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

"So bossy," he teased.

Chloe's face softened a little and she lifted it slightly to look up at him, "you did promise Emil you'd let me take care of you if you got to come home."

"And I intend to keep that promise." He paused, offering her a charming smile. "For the most part anyway."

"And what part are you planning on defying me on?" She asked, smiling a little and cocking her head.

"I'm not sure yet. But I'm sure there will be something." He grinned.

"I have no doubt," she agreed and leaned in, kissing him softly.

"I'm a rebel," he murmured, kissing her in return.

"One of the many qualities I admire in you," she admitted then brushed her lips against his, "except when used against me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He kissed the top of her lip, his thumb stroking lightly over the back of her hand.

"Mhmm," she murmured, smiling softly. "You need to get some rest."

"So do you."

"I plan on it," she told him, snuggling closer against his side, "let me know if you need anything."

"I will," he murmured, closing his eyes and resting his head against hers. "Night, Chloe."

"Night Ollie," she told him quietly, kissing his jaw softly and sighing deeply, feeling better that she had apologized to him and even more so over the fact that he was home.


End file.
